DeKalb County man seriously injured in snowmobile crash

SYCAMORE – A 32-year-old Sycamore man was in critical condition in a Rockford hospital Sunday after he crashed his snowmobile at night northeast of Sycamore, authorities said.

Snowmobiler Richard A. Sims' parents called sheriff's police about 2 a.m. Saturday to report Sims had called them indicating he was injured after crashing his snowmobile somewhere between Burlington and Sycamore, authorities said. DeKalb County Sheriff's deputies and Illinois Conservation Police began searching trails and fields for him.

About 6:30 a.m. Saturday, authorities learned that a train had hit a snowmobile on the tracks near Lukens Road just south of Base Line Road. Sims had been driving the snowmobile along a curve in Lukens Road when he went down a steep embankment and was thrown off the snowmobile, according to a news release from the Illinois Conservation Police.

He was not on or near the snowmobile when the train struck it, but rather the snowmobile landed on the tracks after he crashed, police said.

A sheriff's deputy found him about 7 a.m. Saturday, police said. He was flown to OSF St. Anthony's Medical Center in Rockford, police said.